State of Emergency: The Real Emergency Is To End It

More than 70 demonstrations were held last Saturday (30 January) organized by more than a hundred associations, to demand the end of the state of emergency , as being a (régime d’exception) that threatens our fundamental liberties, and has proved to be inefficient.

Paris, Friday, January 29,

Protest against the state of emergency is bringing the people out into the steets. While the government has announced its determination to prolong the state of emergency for another three months, beyond 26 February, 111 associations and 19 unions will be all marching behind the banner of the collective Nous ne cèderons pas (We will not give up!) at the Place de la République, and all over the country, to demand its immediate repeal. In their view, nearly two months after the bloody attacks in Paris and St. Denis, it is high time to put an end to this régime d’exception that infringes upon our fundamental liberties. Not just for matters of principle, but also for very pragmatic reasons. "The authorities’ response, intended as martial, guarantees neither security nor repect for our liberties", as emphasized by the associations in their joint declaration.

One single indictment

In truth, measured against its initial objective ("the fight against terrorism"), the state of emergency proves to be as dangerous as it is disappointing. The effectiveness of the exceptional provisions, having been in place since November, is today thoroughly under attack. From a statistical point of view, the figures alone may appear impressive. By January 21, the authorities have made 3189 administrative searches [1], have placed 392 persons under house arrest, and opened 549 judicial procedures. But the truth is that most of these procedures are common law cases: possession of illegal weapons, drug trafficking, or illegal presence in France. All in all, according to the figures of the Ministry of Justice itself, no more than four investigations have so far been opened for "criminal association in relation to a terrorist enterprise", and only one person has been indicted... Since mid December, the daily figure for new house arrests has been close to zero. And the daily average for searches has been no more than ten for the month of January. "These figures prove the obvious inadequacy of the judicial framework of the state of emergency in the fight against terrorism," the Judges’ Union concludes.

Many observers agree, and point out that the shock and consternation [2] induced by the state of emergency, which, in the early stage, was one of the Ministry of the Interior’s arguments, quickly faded and has now all but disappeared. "We are less frequently called upon", a policeman anonymously confirmed. "Those house searches have enabled us mostly to collect local information, to confirm or invalidate certain leads, which may well be useful, but are now useless with regard to the direct prevention of terrorist attacks. The notion of an ’imminent peril’, specific to a state of emergency, can no longer be invoked."

The fight against terrorism has been weakened

Eventually, the state of emergency might even make things worse. Thousands of civil servants waste their time conducting exceptional searches, only ten per cent of which end in the pursuit of a person, and even then only for minor criminal offences ... "Obviously, they would be more efficiently employed in the detection and prevention of averred criminal projets," the Judges’ Union insists. Some policemen point to another flaw: the furious staging of one search after another may be detrimental to security, by prematurely revealing the information secured by the anti-terrorist departments, thus encouraging potential suspects to even greater discretion. Unlike the former intelligence service ("Renseignements Généraux), the General Department for Home Security has made very little use of administrative searches. For fear, some of its agents say, of "killing off some of our most important investigations"... As another policeman says, it would seem that the state of emergency is no more than political gesturing. Contrary to the government’s repeated assurance, most of the measures (night searches, house arrests, bans on gatherings...) are already possible under common law, notably in connection with anti-terrorist activities, but naturally with the sanction of the judiciary.

The verdict of the Judges’ Union is categorical: "Far from contributing anything to the fight against terrorist activity, the state of emergency tends to weaken its efficiency." The short - and worst - of it is that it infringes upon our civil liberties, all the while being ineffective in matters of security.